CAWA met with Senator George Runner (Ret.), member, Board of Equalization (BOE) and his staff to hash out details as the implementation of the Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Act of 2016 gets underway. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2017, with the collection of fees beginning April 1, 2017.

The California Lead Acid Battery Recycling Act creates a state mandated lead-acid battery fee that will serve as a funding mechanism for clean-up of areas contaminated by lead-acid batteries. Consumers will be charged a $1 “California battery fee” for purchase of a lead-acid battery from a retail dealer at the point of sale. This fee increases to $2 on April 1, 2022. In addition, consumers will be charged a refundable deposit on a battery, which amount will be determined by the seller.

Manufacturers will pay a $1 fee on all batteries sold in the state until March 31, 2022, at which time the fee becomes inoperative. Both retailers and manufacturers are required to report electronically and transfer collected lead-acid battery fees to the BOE on a quarterly basis. The money from the fees will be used to clean up areas of the state that have shown to be contaminated by the production and recycling of lead acid batteries.

“CAWA looks forward to working collaboratively with the Board of Equalization to ensure that both our retail and manufacturer members are kept informed of key implementation dates and collection fee obligations as this process unfolds. We will work with our members to make certain the impacts of this new fee collection obligation are as seamless and easy as possible,” said Rodney Pierini, CAWA president and CEO.

The BOE will be sending compliance letters and notices to manufacturers and retailers and has committed to developing a Lead-Acid Battery Fees Guide that will be housed on the BOE website.

This year CAWA, along with the Auto Care Association, Battery Council International and the Coalition for Auto Repair Equality (CARE) worked in coordination with the California Retailers Association, California Chamber of Commerce and others to ensure the proposed legislation addressed the lead contamination problem while not disrupting the current existing successful battery recycling system (which boasts more than a 98 percent success rate) or imposing onerous fees on the retail industry.

For more information about implementation of the Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Act, visit cawa.org.